


A Pair of Glass Owls

by TheGoldenAge



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Comfort, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, No beta reader we rush in like men incompetent and over compensating, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, the bokuaka fluff I needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28505913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoldenAge/pseuds/TheGoldenAge
Summary: Akaashi's soulmate countdown appeared in front of him, telling him that he had five minutes until he would meet his soulmate.---------------"I'm so glad that I have finally found you, soulmate," Bokuto whispered next to Akaashi's ear so low Akaashi had to wonder if it was something Bokuto said, or if it was simply a thought he had in his own head. Yes. This. This made sense.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Comments: 5
Kudos: 102
Collections: My favorite haikyuu fics





	A Pair of Glass Owls

Time had never made sense to Akaashi. It always seemed to flow differently depending on the situation he was in or the people he was with. So, when the legendary timer (the timer which indicated that you were going to meet your soulmate in five minutes) popped up, he was full of mixed emotions.

It was Sunday, so he was of course, at the Farmers Market uptown, doing his weekly grocery runs when the timer had appeared in front of him. Sundays were typically a slow day for Akaashi. It was a repose from the busy work week, and Akaashi spent time wholly on himself rather than thinking about his work. But with the appearance of his countdown, the world seemed to whirl around him.

He had stilled in the middle of the morning rush, people bustling past him, the occasional dirty look thrown his way, for he was standing in the middle of all of the foot traffic. The timer was big, impossible to ignore, and though he was the only one who could see it, he felt like everyone's eyes were on him.

Akaashi's mind flitted back to the story that every elementary student was told. It was the myth of the beings with two heads, four arms, and four legs. They had dominated the earth, and Zeus, God of Olympus, had felt threatened by those mighty beings. So to move past his insecurity, he had split them all in half, separating the beings in two. The beings were forced to separate, destined to spend the rest of their lives trying to crawl their way back to the other. Although it was a romantic story of persevering love, and hope, Akaashi could not help but note the darker side of the story. People could spend an eternity searching for their soulmate and still never find them. From a young age, Akaashi knew it was impractical to expect that he would ever find his destined partner in a world of over a billion people. So, he had lived his life, never expecting to meet the person the universe had created to be his better half. It was the sensible thing to do. One could function perfectly on their own and didn't need another person to complete them.

Akaashi shook himself, resolved to move on. Just because he was going to meet his soulmate, did not mean he could go a week without some strawberries. He made his way to the berry stall and started combing through the basket of berries to find the perfect basket. However, as he was looking through the berries, his mind could not help but wander to the thought of having a soulmate.

Although he had never expected to find this perfect match, he had indeed dreamed of what the person may look like or how they would act. He could not help it. The idea of having the one perfect partner out there was such a warm idea. That there was someone out there who would love him unconditionally. He had built up this fantasy ideal partner, and now he worried if his actual soulmate would be able to live up to the vision he had created in his head. Akaashi bought his strawberries trying to shake free the image of the soulmate he had created. No, he would treat this soulmate person like anyone else. Just because the universe had created them for each other, was no excuse to blindly fall in love with the person whether or not they lived up to his expectations.

Akaashi started to make his way back to the artisanal section of the farmers market, where artists had set up their booths to display their artwork. Akaashi had a special place in his heart for Kuroo's stall. Kuroo was a talented glass artist, and Akaashi already had a couple of his pieces in his home which practically made his space come alive.

Earlier, Akaashi had dropped by Kuroo's stall to see if there was anything new, and in the vast collection of glassware and little trinkets Kuroo had displayed, Akaashi found a pair of glass owls near the back, tucked away. He had picked them up and studied them, and knew exactly where they would go. On his mantelpiece, right next to the O-shaped vase, on top of the vintage Vogue magazines. However, he had set them back down, knowing that he was tight on cash this week, and could not afford to splurge on the pair of owls. He had set them down resigned, as he had felt some sort of inexplicable draw to them, and continued with his shopping.

Kuroo had promised that he would hold them until Akaashi came back just in case he changed his mind, and here he was, back at Kuroo's stall weighing the owls in the palm of his hands. He stared at the count down, now only showing he had a minute left until this fated meeting, the owls sitting heavy in his palms. No, he could not spend the money on the owls, and he should probably leave Kuroo's stall so that there would be less breakable items nearby when he did run into his soulmate.

Though the artisanal section of the farmers market was decidedly quieter than the produce area, there was still a fair amount of people milling about staring at the artwork and jewelry. Akaashi surveyed the crowd, wondering if he would be able to pick his soulmate out in the crowd. Would they even recognize him? Would they even be able to tell that they were the person who he was supposedly tirelessly searching for (according to the elementary school story)? Perhaps, they would pass each other in the throng of people in the market, and never even realized they had missed each other until it was too late. Akaashi didn't want to place too much emphasis on this meeting, but his mind spun out, and his heart started racing, as the time ticked down.

"KUROO! KUROO! I FOUND THE PERFECT PIECE!" an enthusiastic shout erupted from Kuroo's stall behind Akaashi, and he turned around to see what the commotion was about. He saw a tall, man with ombre hair waving the pair of owls that he had left in the back of the store tucked away. He marveled at the fact that another person had found them. They had seemed so small, and so insignificant considering the large glass projects that Kuroo had on display. But someone, like him, had found the pair of owls. Akaashi could not help but smile at that and hoped that they would find a good home with this energetic man.

Kuroo smiled, holding out his hands for the owls, but the other man seemed hesitant to let them go. "That's funny, I had another customer look at these very intently just a few seconds ago, I'm glad to see that my detailed animal work is still appreciated."

"Who was looking at them? Are they coming back? Can I buy them now before they're gone? Are you planning on making more? Can I commission you to do more? Who was the one who wanted them? Do you think I can get them to do an interview? Why do you think they picked these ones out of all your work? Do you think they-"

Kuroo simply raises his finger and pointed in Akaashi's direction, and the taller man turned. The countdown hit zero.

____________________________________________________

_Epilogue/ continuation. I wanted the story to end with the countdown hitting zero, but I can't help but imagine what happened after..._

"Bokuto, meet Akaashi. He's a pretty loyal customer. He's bought a couple of my pieces before, but this was the first set of miniatures he seemed interested in. Akaashi, this is Bokuto, he's my friend and art critique for the local journal." Kuroo introduced them to each other, and Akaashi could not help be look at the other man dazed.

" _Bokuto_ " he thought to himself. " _BokutoBokutoBokuto_ ". Akaashi had definitely read some of the articles his soulmate had written, checking out art shows and museums which the pen name Bokuto had reviewed. Akaashi had found Bokuto's reviews full of life, breathing fun into art viewing in a way that Akaashi found entertaining and easy to consume.

A smile had found Bokuto's face, and it had come easily, oh, so easily. Akaashi found his thoughts drifting away from Bokuto's most recent article which he had conincidently read this morning, and toward's the man's stunning smile. His soulmate. This was his soulmate. Akaashi blinked rapidly, trying to rid himself of these silly notions of falling in love at first sight. No, he needed to take this meeting in stride and have his wits amongst him. 

"Please, call me Kotaro." Bokuto flushed and had shifted the pair of owls into one hand so that he could hold out the other for a handshake. Akaashi took it and was mesmerized at the way Bokuto's large hand easily carried the owl figures. He did not seem to notice that Bokuto's palm was slightly sweaty and that the grip of the handshake was a bit too tight as if Bokuto was trying to hold back from flinging his arms around Akaashi.

As Akaashi began thinking about dropping his hand from the handshake, lowering his hand slightly, Bokuto tugged, and Akaashi found himself stumbling towards him. Bokuto's head bowed and tucked in the space between Akaashi's head and shoulder, and Akaashi subconsciously leaned his head into Bokuto's.

"I'm so glad that I have finally found you, soulmate," Bokuto whispered next to Akaashi's ear so low Akaashi had to wonder if it was something Bokuto said, or if it was simply a thought he had in his own head. Yes. This. This made sense.

"The two of you have to be soulmates, or this is the weirdest introduction I have had to witness." Kuroo coughed and Bokuto and Akaashi broke apart flushed.

"That's right Kuroo. I've found the one." Bukuto proclaimed, and Akaashi smiled warmly. He had found his one. 

The next article that Bokuto published was titled: 

**_A Pair of Glass Owls and the Meeting of My SoulMate:_ ** _How the work of the glasssmith Tetsuro Kuroo lead me to my one and only._

This article had circled far and wide in the art community, as it was extremely rare for people to find their soulmates. Kuroo's business boomed, and people came to him, commissioning pieces in hopes that they too would meet their soulmate. Will all this coverage of his work, Kuroo could not help but wonder if he perhaps would find his destined partner. He longed for the connection Bokuto and Akaashi were slowly building up, and he often found himself jealous even though he knew that he shouldn't feel that way unless he wanted to be miserable for the rest of his life, yerning for someone he may never find. 

However, when the CEO of a gaming company had requested to have a list of artist drawn up to consult for his newest museum immersive game, Kuroo's name was at the very top of the list. The CEO recognized Kuroo's name from the article that Bokuto had written, and scheduled a consultation with the artisan. The CEO thought nothing more of it until three minutes before the meeting when his soulmate countdown had appeared.

" _Great_ ," Kenma thought checking his watch. " _My soulmate is going to be two minutes late to this meeting_."

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this short lil' one-shot after I made up a prompt, "A timer pops up in front of you. What do you do?". Soulmates AU is such a comfort AU for me because I love the idea of knowing that there is someone out there that will love you unconditionally. So, I choose to write this.


End file.
